<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Oh yes, Dave, I've long been aware of that site!  Not, perhaps, what one might call an authoritative source!  Apart from selling the Reblitz book, he offers for sale an "online book".  These two offerings (and I've not seen what his online book is like) perhaps illustrate part of my point with the Haynes Piano Manual.  Reblitz is a "proper" book, the best technical learning manual that there is for the piano technology student.  But because it is for a niche market, it's in black and white.  Online books can be in colour 'cos it costs no more than black and white, but the case is very different for paper and ink books.  To be able to produce a paper and ink book in full colour, you have to have economy of scale: that's to say, you need to be able to sell a lot of copies, so the unit cost of production is low enough (unless people are prepared to pay about $200 per copy).  Thus, Reblitz remains black and white. Books about the history and devlopment of the piano, on the other hand, like the excellent David Crombie book "Piano", can afford to be lavishly illustrated in colour throughout, because they are aimed at a mass market. With the Haynes manual, something in between is achieved.  Haynes are reputable, long established publishers of technical manuals for different models of motor vehicle.  I always found it useful to have one, even though I was never going to take out the engine and strip down the gearbox!  But for background information and for specific small tasks, I always felt that I got my money's worth.  Now Haynes have diversified into other technical manuals, and the Piano Manual is part of that diversification. Thus, for the first time (as far as I am aware), we have a piano technical manual, explaining how the action works, and showing many repairs, that has full colour throughout.  Joe mentions knowing of many similar books, but I have never encountered them and am intrigued to know more about them. Who publishes them, Joe, and what's in them, and how do they compare to the Haynes Manual? Can you give me some ISBN numbers? The authors of the Haynes Piano Manual are NOT trying to disparage piano technicians; exactly the opposite. One of the authors makes his fulltime living as a piano tuner and technician, and has done so for some 30 years, having taken up that career instead of continuing as a university lecturer (in an unrelated subject).  While this book is not written to the depth of, or for as small a market as, Reblitz, in my opinion it will surely be a very useful addition to Reblitz for the serious piano technology student, as well as a valuable source of background knowledge for the piano owner.  This all represents the upside, not the downside (as typified by that site you mention, Dave) in my view. Best regards, David. <blockquote type="cite">David: I too prefer a customer who knows something about their piano and the more information they have the easier it is for them to understand what they need. I also understand the downside which is exemplified by this site.  This guy has made it his life’s work to discredit legitimate piano service people – particularly PTG members.  I haven’t heard anything about him for a long time, so maybe he’s not as aggressively disparaging us now.  Just the name of the site says volumes.  dave </blockquote> </body> </html>